1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to improvements in systems and processes used for generating a computer program, and more specifically to a system for use in translating and adapting a computer program product written for use in one country to one which is usable in another country. The system provided by this invention, automates many of the processes required to adapt and translate a computer program product to the language, customs and culture of a foreign market. This process of translation and adaptation is generally referred to as "LOCALIZATION" of the target software product.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computer hardware and software vendors expand their market to Europe and the Far East, they are required to modify the related operating system and applications software to accommodate the language, customs and culture of the individual target markets. Many of these companies now achieve half of their total revenues from such markets.
Localization of computer program products generally includes some or all of the following:
translating software messages, menus, documentation and packaging; PA1 changing the time, date, decimal and currency formats; PA1 changing comparison and sorting routes; PA1 changing character sets, input methods and keyboard layouts; PA1 changing displayable and printable fonts, and printing devices; PA1 modifying input and output software routines to display, enter and print diverse single and multi-byte character sets; and PA1 accommodating local laws and customs. PA1 translation of the software documentation into the new language; PA1 translation of the textual messages embedded in the software into the new language; PA1 incorporation of additional software facilities to make input and output of the new language and perhaps new characters possible; PA1 adapting the software to accommodate the customs and conventions of the new locale; and PA1 testing and assurance that the modified product works as intended.
Different cultures and countries have different rules for punctuation, word order, sorting, the order of items in addresses, currency measures and conversions, number formats and other local idiosyncrasies. The Far Eastern countries have alphabets that include many thousands of characters (requiring multiple bytes of data to represent a single character) whereas the ASCII character set used in the United States numbers less than 256 characters (which can be accommodated by a single 8 bit byte). Many native languages and customs have different meanings for certain symbols used as computer icons as well as colors which may be used to indicate some special meaning.
Localization of a computer product from one locale to another to accommodate such differences more specifically, involves:
This process of Localization is very labor intensive and requires people who know the native language of the new country as well as the basics of computer program architecture and construction. An example of the process of Localization is thoroughly described in the book titled "Writing Localizable Software for the Macintosh.RTM." by Daniel R. Carter, Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1992, ISBN 0-201-57013-0. (MACINTOSH is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.).
Much progress has been made in designing and writing computer software to make the process of "Localizing" a product easier by the use of special data bases of internal messages instead of embedding them at various places in the code, by establishing special resource files to specify formats for time, currency, numbers, units of measure, etc.,and generally providing interfaces that can be modified dynamically to change from one environment to another. This way of designing and producing software that can be easily adapted to local markets is defined as "INTERNATIONALIZATION". See for example, "Solaris.RTM. International Developer's Guide" by Bill Tuthill, SunSoft Press (Prentice Hall), 1993, ISBN 0-13-031063-8. (SOLARIS is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.).
The Problem
The basic localization process at best, is extremely difficult and time consuming in general, and requires personnel with an unusual mount of training in the local languages, customs, mores as well as in the art of the computer development, modification and testing processes. A computer hardware or software vendor is faced with hiring internal staff familiar with each country and training them to provide the localization services for their native country. Finding, hiring and training such individuals is a very costly undertaking. Moreover, the complexity of the present processes and procedures makes the likelihood of induced errors very high, and the additional effort in testing and error correction very costly. Additionally, customers are demanding consistency in the localization of different releases of the same product, as well as demanding new releases be made available to them either at the same time as new releases are announced in the U.S. or shortly thereafter. Finally, networking protocols and inter-vendor operation and application development by independent developers creates a demand for consistency in the localization process.